Gil Penchina recently agreed to become CEO of Wikia, a start-up founded by Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia. Wikia is a community site built on open-source software that allows anyone to contribute to guides on subjects as diverse as star trek, pet diabetes and travel guides. Wikia operates under the GFDL Free content license and is positioned to become the first sustainable business built around the vision of free content.

Prior to Wikia, Mr. Penchina was an 8-year veteran of eBay. Mr. Penchina worked in Europe, directing eBay's presence in Southern Europe, and oversaw the company's expansion efforts in Eastern Europe. Previously he was responsible for launching sites in Hong Kong and Singapore, and for the company's entry into India. Mr. Penchina also played a role in eBay's entry into South Korea and China. Mr. Penchina came to eBay in 1998, first working in business development and then running the mergers and acq...